


nothing matters when we're dancing

by neenswrites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Dance, Ballet Dancer Kenma, Ballet Dancer Kuroo, Dancing together, Fluff, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, That's apparently not a tag, but it should be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24086857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neenswrites/pseuds/neenswrites
Summary: And as he finished in an arabesque with one foot pointed on the ground and the other stretched out gracefully behind him to face Oikawa, he could see the same conflict on his instructor’s face he had every time he watched Kenma dance.Because Kenma refused to dance duets.-Kenma has been dancing since he was a child and has never danced even one duet. Kuroo is looking to get scouted by his dream ballet company through pretty much any means possible. Oikawa has way too many tricks up his sleeves.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 26
Kudos: 122





	nothing matters when we're dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IS ONE OF MY BIGGER PROJECTS OMG
> 
> FIRST AND FOREMOST thank u to [christy](https://tiwitter.com/kodzuken) for being the BEST beta reader anyone could ask for, i'm so blessed
> 
> NEXT i'm very excited and a little nervous about starting this with you all!!! i love dance aus, and ballet has a super special place in my heart, so i hope you all like it too!!

_Do the D.A.N.C.E_

_1, 2, 3, 4 Fight!_

_Stick to the B.E.A.T_

_Get ready to ignite_

_You were such a P.Y.T_

_Catching all the lights_

_'D.A.N.C.E. - Justice'_

_-_

Kenma folded himself fully over his left leg, and let his forehead rest against his knee. Of all the steps included in his morning warm-ups, stretching was one of his favorites. He liked feeling the pull on his muscles, the steadiness of his breaths, and the silence of the studio as he gently readied his body for the more strenuous movements to come.

He was pulled from his reverie by the sound of a loud clap and an even louder voice.

“I do not come in here an hour early just to watch you stretch,” Oikawa said as he made his way into the room. He dropped his bag in the corner with a completely unnecessary flourish, and Kenma tried not to roll his eyes. “You are supposed to be fully warmed up by the time I get here, not in the middle of your floor stretches.”

“I’m pretty much done,” Kenma replied as he straightened back up. He pointed and flexed his foot a couple of times before continuing, “I was just stretching my quads a little more. They’ve been feeling kind of stiff.”

“What do you mean by stiff?” Oikawa asked in a carefully neutral tone, and Kenma resisted the urge to grimace. Mentioning any level of soreness around Oikawa always resulted in a headache for Kenma, but he’d just wanted to avoid another scolding from his instructor. 

“It’s not that bad,” Kenma said with a sigh as he stood up. He raised the leg in question up to the bar on the wall, and gestured for Oikawa to come closer. “You can even check it yourself.”

As Oikawa made his way over to inspect his leg, Kenma had to train his eyes on his toes to avoid glancing at the brace on Oikawa’s knee. He knew it was a sore spot for the man - and the only reason he went into instructing in the first place - so when Oikawa got worried, Kenma would usually let him do what he needed to reassure himself. 

“Alright, it seems fine,” Oikawa said as he prodded gently at his leg. He glanced back up at Kenma and his eyes lingered on his hair with a bemused smile. “Unlike that mess on your head that you call a bun.”

Kenma didn’t suppress his eye roll that time. 

“If you’re satisfied, I’m ready to get started,” Kenma said as he lowered his leg from the bar. Oikawa shot him an unimpressed look.

“Oh, _now_ he’s ready,” he drawled as he went back to his bag to pull out a set of speakers. “Well if you're so ready, go ahead and show me the routine with that double Bournonville grand jete you guaranteed you’d have down by now.”

Kenma scrunched his nose at Oikawa’s tone, but readied himself in first position regardless. The moment the music started playing from Oikawa’s speaker, he immediately stepped out and into his first movement.

Most people in his daily life would be surprised that Kenma did ballet - and he couldn’t even blame them. Outside of the studio, he spent very little time doing anything that required any effort from him. More often than not, he was playing some game on his console or handheld, and avoiding the gazes of anyone around him. For most people, it’d be hard to imagine Kenma doing anything as difficult and attention-grabbing as ballet. 

And maybe if his mother would’ve enrolled him in something else when he was a child, that would be what he’d be spending his time doing now. He’d only ever agreed to the classes because his mother had promised to buy him a new console once he’d completed the lessons.

But as he leapt high into the air, legs straight in a perfect split, before landing lightly on one pointed foot, he can’t imagine the thrill he gets from mastering a new move or leap could really be matched by anything else. It felt like real-world levelling up - being able to make his body do seemingly impossible things all through his own ability and control.

And it was his skill in this that drew Oikawa to him in the first place. 

And as he finished in an arabesque with one foot on the ground and the other stretched out gracefully behind him to face Oikawa, he could see the same conflict on his instructor’s face he had every time he watched Kenma dance.

Because Kenma refused to dance duets. 

Honestly, it was like pulling teeth to get him to just do a solo. The only time he’d done them was when they were quick parts of ensemble pieces - a few seconds where Kenma would step in front of the group, do a quick succession of moves, and then blend back in with the other dancers on stage. And that was fine for him. He didn’t do ballet for the attention; far from it actually. 

Which is why he would never do a proper duet. There were few things as never-wrecking to Kenma than having an audience watch him do something as intimate as a ballet partner piece. He would rather do an entire recital on his own then let anyone watch as he was tenderly lifted or held.

And this was Oikawa’s biggest frustration with Kenma.

“Beautiful, as expected,” Oikawa said with a long-suffering sigh. “You could get a bit more height with your leaps in the first half, but your Bournonville Grand Jete was flawless, and you even added a tour jete.”

“It flowed nicely with the turn of the song,” Kenma said with a nod. Oikawa shot a disbelieving look at him.

“It’s not enough for you to have the skill,” Oikawa said with an incredulous shake of his head. “But you’ve also got a good sense of the music. I can’t stand to look at you right now, go do some toe rises.”

“You’re the one who wanted to do this,” Kenma said as he made his way back to the bar. He placed a hand on it, and lifted his arm up as he raised himself on his toes. There was more hair covering his face than was truly practical, but he refused to adjust his bun and give Oikawa that win. “You knew what you were getting into.”

And Kenma knew Oikawa was only grimacing because he was right. When Oikawa had approached him a little under a year ago after seeing Kenma perform at the spring recital, Kenma had been upfront with the man. He’d of course known who Oikawa was - a retired dancer who had been forced to quit his promising ballet career early due to a knee injury - a career was most notably marked by Oikawa’s incredible duets. When he’d first began gaining attention in the ballet world, it was because of Oikawa’s ability to portray just about any emotion when he danced; a skill that was only amplified in his partner routines. 

So Kenma had initially turned him down, and Oikawa had insisted that he give him a chance. Once he promised him that he would never make him perform a duet, and would focus only on elevating Kenma’s other skills, Kenma had agreed. He would’ve been an idiot not to.

Just like Oikawa had been an idiot to assume that he’d be able to convince Kenma to partake in any duets. 

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware, thank you,” Oikawa grumbled. Kenma let himself rest back on his heels, rotated his ankles a couple of times, and then rose on his toes again. He tried not to let the way Oikawa’s eye stayed trained on him make his movements stiff. “So you’re really only going to perform in the ensemble piece in this year's spring recital?”

“Since it’s what I always do, then yes,” Kenma replied flatly. Oikawa let out a petulant huff, and Kenma rolled his eyes. “I can ask about having a small part with Keiji.”

And Kenma was being pretty gracious about this. Akaashi was the only person to have ever shared a piece with Kenma. It was technically considered a duet, but the two had barely held hands for a moment before separating. It was more a show of synchronization anyway, and had nothing to do with anything as embarrassing as physical intimacy. 

“I’d rather you get a solo,” Oikawa said as he pointed his nose up, and Kenma snorted. Oikawa’s gaze sharpened at the sound, and he clapped loudly twice. Kenma nearly toppled over at the sound. “Now that’s enough of that - let’s go over the routine one more time, even if you refused to use my incredible choreography for anything of substance.”

And Kenma wanted to roll his eyes again, but Oikawa wasn’t wrong. This was one of Kenma’s favorite pieces he’d ever danced. It was highly technical and required a lot of his focus - his favorite type of routines. These were the ones that forced his mind to focus more on what he was trying to do and less on what others around him might think of him. 

And while he liked going through it in one go, he also appreciated that the way Oikawa coached him was so regimented. When he’d first started with the man, he’d been annoyed at how often he stopped him in the middle of a sequence or step. But now he’d come to appreciate the way Oikawa was able to tell when his foot placement was even a centimeter off. It had made him a much better dancer, and forced all his attention onto what he was trying to get his body to do.

And as he finished the final sequence yet again, he knew he’d managed to complete it to Oikawa’s full expectations. So, of course, Oikawa was about to become completely obnoxious.

“Okay so what if you look at it this way,” Oikawa said as Kenma did his final stretches. He still had a group practice after this, and didn’t want his body to cool down too much in the meantime. “You don’t want to do the duet and I get that - you don’t want that kind of attention.”

Kenma nodded apprehensively. This was the first time he’d ever heard Oikawa sound so understanding about the situation.

“But what if I want the attention!” Oikawa exclaimed. Kenma huffed in exasperation. _Of course._ “Imagine how many people will talk about me when they see you dancing my gorgeous choreography! So if you won’t do it for your own success, then do it for me.”

“Based on everything you know about me, what made you think that would work?” Kenma asked as he sat up from his final stretch. Ignoring Oikawa’s exaggerated pouting, he stood up and made his way to the side of the room to grab his bag. “Are we meeting in here when I’m done with group practice?”

“No, Suga already reserved this room for his class, like the little snake he is,” Oikawa said with a wave of his hand. “We’ll have to settle for a room at the back of a studio.”

“You mean a room actually intended for individual work,” Kenma deadpanned. He pointedly dragged his eyes across the expansive space of the room - the _empty_ expansive space.

“I only want the best for my pupil,” Oikawa cooed as he went over to pat the top of Kenma’s head. Kenma batted the hand away, but Oikawa seemed undeterred. “Try to make some friends in your group class okay - Akaashi doesn’t count. You're too catty with him for that to count as a friend.”

“I’m leaving now,” Kenma said flatly as he exited the room to head for his group practice. He hoped Oikawa hadn’t noticed he’d been too lazy to change shoes for the short walk down the hallway, but based on the overdramatic gasp he heard as the door closed behind him, he hadn’t been so lucky. 

He dashed away from the room, not wanting to hear Oikawa lecture him for the umpteenth time on the importance of shoe maintenance. He understood it, he really did, he was just not going to undo his shoes for a quick stroll down the hall. So concerned with avoiding Oikawa, he didn’t look up when he turned the corner and ran directly into a large something.

“Whoa, are you okay?”

Or large someone.

At the feeling of large hands coming to steady him, Kenma looked up at the person he’d just collided with with wide eyes. Distantly, he was aware that the guy was attractive in the tall, lithe way dancers were prone to being. But all he could focus on was the embarrassment that was rushing through him. The other man opened his mouth, concern clear all over his face, but Kenma slid past him before he had the chance to say anything.

Moving as quickly as possible, he practically sprinted the rest of his way to class, head ducked low to cover his red cheeks.

This was all Oikawa’s fault.

-

Hinata was practically bouncing in place as he waited for the class to start. Most of the people had shown up and began stretching, but neither Kenma nor their instructor had shown up yet, and Hinata knew he wouldn’t be able to calm himself down until they did. 

“Hinata, are you sure you’ve done enough bar stretches?” Akaashi called out from his place on the floor. His body was practically folded in half as he reached past his toes, but he was looking up at Hinata with an almost bored expression. “You’re going to need to stretch your calves more with the height you're able to get on your leaps.”

Hinata perked up at the suggestion. He pulled his leg up to the bar, and looked down at Akaashi with a smile, “You really think my leaps are that high?”

“I think they’re higher than anyone else in the class,” Akaashi replied and Hinata beamed.

Hinata knew that he was definitely the furthest behind in terms of technical skill. When he’d been chosen to be part of the group performance despite this, he knew he had to do everything he could to prove himself to the class. He wasn’t fully sure he deserved the spot, but hearing someone as talented as Akaashi saying that he had at least one skill down made him feel so much more confident.

“High leaps don’t count for much if you can’t land them.”

And then there was Kageyama.

“You don’t get to make fun of me for my landings,” Hinata snapped at the other man. He had seemed to appear out of nowhere, and was now looking down at Hinata with a challenge in his expression. “You couldn’t even handle triple turn circles, which are basically the same as baby steps in jazz.”

Kageyama immediately flushed, and Hinata grinned victoriously. While he may not be the most graceful at ballet, he at least was much better than Kageyama was at jazz - which was his main style of dance.

Back months ago when they had made the bet about whose style of dance was more difficult, Hinata had admittedly been nervous. He hadn’t known Kageyama all that well, but he had definitely heard about the guy who was shaping up to be the next ballet prodigy. And Hinata had thought it was so cool that their own dance studio was getting so much attention from it. 

And then he had quite literally stumbled into him while rushing to the bathroom one day. 

Kageyama had squinted his eyes at him, took a single look at his jazz shoes, and rolled his eyes while muttering about how the studio really should just focus on ballet. And Hinata was not going to take that standing. 

He didn’t care if Kageyama was the so-called ‘king of ballet’ - he didn’t get to act like any style of dance beyond his was lesser. Ballet was hard, but so were plenty of other styles! And he had yelled just as much to his face. To Hinata’s surprise, Kageyama had argued right back. He spoke of leaps and steps and terms Hinata’s brain couldn’t begin to understand, and if he hadn’t been insulting but what he was saying, he thinks he almost would’ve been impressed by his passion. 

But as it was, Hinata had only replied with one thing.

“Let’s make a bet!” He’d exclaimed while poking repeatedly at Kageyama’s chest. “I’ll try ballet for one month, and you try jazz for one month. At the end of it, we’ll see which one is really the harder style.”

Kageyama had agreed without hesitation. And in the beginning, Hinata had been out of his mind with nerves. He had made the bet out of pride, and had been sick and tired of how Kageyama had seemed to look down his nose on any style of dance that wasn’t ballet. But ballet was also one of the most difficult dances out there, and while he had a bit of the foundational skills along with some natural athleticism, he was worried about what he had just gotten himself into. 

But a month of ballet was more than enough for Hinata to have completely fallen in love with it. Jazz was still his favorite style, but there was something about ballet that made Hinata feel like he was soaring. He found himself genuinely grateful to have made the bet in the first place.

The fact that Kageyama ended up being absolutely awful at jazz had just been the cherry on top.

So now, even half a year after their bet was completed, Hinata was still here. And while he was still working on some of the more beginner skill sets, he was happy he was able to learn more about ballet.

Plus, he’d been able to meet some really cool people too!

“Kenma!” Hinata called out as he spotted the man quickly walking into the room. He waved his hand over his head, ignoring Kageyama’s hiss to: ‘Stop screaming, he’s clearly walking right towards you.”

“Shouyou, Keiji,” Kenma said as he walked up to them and Hinata’s smile widened. Kenma paused as he turned to Kageyama before averting his eyes. “...Kageyama.”

“Kozume-san,” Kageyama said with a small bow, and Hinata held back his chuckles at the blush rising on Kenma’s cheeks. Kenma’s embarrassment over Kageyama’s respect for him was the funniest thing.

“Just Kenma,” he muttered as he slid into the spot between Hinata and Akaashi.

“Well, ‘just Kenma’, I see you’re already wearing your shoes,” Akaashi pointed out and Hinata watched with wide eyes as he gracefully rose from his straddle stretch without even using his hands. “You’re not setting a very good example for Hinata here.”

“Hinata knows better than to look to me as an example,” Kenma replied with a snort. Hinata opened his mouth immediately to protest that. Kenma was a huge part of the reason Hinata had found ballet as interesting as he did. When he’d seen the difference between the Kenma who had barely responded to him at his first meeting, to the Kenma who had danced a routine in front of the class without missing a beat, he’d become instantly intrigued by the dancer.

But before he could say as much, their instructor was making their way through the door.

“Sorry I’m late everyone,” Saeko greeted as she tossed her things into the corner of the room. “While I get my shoes on, I want everyone to start warm-ups. We’re going over the solos for the recital routine today so make sure you’re in top shape.”

From there everyone quieted down and anxiously warmed up, waiting for their instructor to be ready. Well, everyone, it seemed except Hinata. 

Hinata wasn’t expecting a solo in this season’s recital. He was honestly lucky he’d gotten selected for the ensemble, and he knew he didn’t have the technical skill for the solos Saeko had planned. 

And while everyone technically had to try-out for every solo, Hinata was using that as more of an opportunity to get better than anything else. 

“Alright, everyone come together,” Saeko said with a clap of her hands. The tension in the room only intensified, and Hinata found himself practically buzzing with the energy. “As you all know, there are eight solo and two duet pieces in the ensemble. This means not everyone will get an individual part, but I want you to all try your best either way. You never know what you’re capable of unless you do.”

Everyone bobbed their head in understanding, and Saeko motioned for them to arrange themselves behind her so she could demonstrate the solos one more time for them.

Another thing Hinata liked about ballet was how different routines could look depending on the person dancing them. Saeko always moved with a strength that both thrilled and terrified him, but Akaashi, for example, danced with a cool calculation that made it difficult to tear your eyes away. Everyone making it their own was something he hadn’t thought was possible with ballet, and he loved seeing how everyone’s styles differed.

“Alright, everyone in groups of three,” Saeko said as she finished the last of her demonstration. “Each group will come up one by one and perform the solos together, and we’ll go through each solo like that. Then we’ll do groups of four for the duets.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Hinata saw Kenma grimace. 

“What’s wrong?” Hinata asked.

“This is going to be exhausting,” Kenma replied with a sigh. “We have to dance ten different parts in one class - I’m going to be dead by the end of it.”

“How is that any different then your usual demeanour,” Akaashi asked as he raised a single eyebrow, and Kenma narrowed his eyes in response.

“Do you two want to be in my group?” Hinata asked eagerly, interrupting the weird rivalry moment between Akaashi and Kenma. They both immediately made a face at the suggestion, and Hinata’s stomach dropped.

“It’s not you,” Kenma spoke up quickly, surprising Hinata, Akaashi, and what looked to be even himself. He bashfully tucked a piece of hair behind his ear and continued, “I’d be happy to be in your group. I just can’t be in the same group as Keiji.”

“The last time that happened, we got chosen for a duet together,” Akaashi explained, disdain written all over his face. “We’d like to avoid that as much as possible.”

“As if that would stop me from pairing the two of you,” Saeko interjected as she came up behind the two. Hinata stifled a giggle as Kenma nearly jumped out his skin and Akaashi scowled. “But if you insist on being difficult, I know Semi’s group needs a third person, Kenma.”

Kenma frowned at the suggestion, but obediently made his way across the room. Hinata was sad to see him go, but perked up when he realized that meant he’d be able to watch him dance. Kenma’s dancing was still one of his favorites.

“So then that leaves the three of us,” Akaashi said consideringly. Hinata turned to look at him in confusion, but he immediately gaped when he took in the person now to his left - Kageyama. He opened his mouth to say something - protest, complain, or shout, he wasn’t sure - but was interrupted by Saeko clapping once again. 

“Okay, let’s get into it,” she said as she stood in front of the class. She had a remote in her hand and a gleam in her eyes, and Hinata felt his back straightening instinctively. “Everyone, stand to the sides of the room. When I say next, I want a new trio in front of me. I don’t care who, but it better not take less than three seconds.” At her command, everyone cleared the center of the room so that there would be plenty of room to move. After a beat, Saeko gave them a smirk. “Next.”

Immediately, Atsumu’s trio walked up to the middle of the room. Hinata’s eyes widened in interest. He knew Astumu was good, but he’d never had the opportunity to just sit back and watch him. As the music started, he was almost swept away by how smoothly he moved. He was so taken aback he almost didn’t notice when Kageyama elbowed him in the side. 

“We’re going third,” he declared. Hinata frowned, but he saw Akaashi shrug from the corner of his eye so he didn’t say anything. The last thing he needed was to start a fight right now. 

Once Atsumu’s group finished, Semi was strolling up confidently with Kenma and another dancer trailing behind. Hinata was so focused on watching Kenma go from shy wallflower to powerful dancer that he almost missed the cue for the next group to go up.

“Move, idiot,” Kageyama hissed in his ear and he shoved Hinata forward. Hinata almost stumbled, but he recovered quickly and practically skipped to the middle of the classroom. 

Even if he wasn’t expecting a solo, this first one was his favorite. It was full of leaps and jumps and twists, and it was the most fun to do by far. And even if the one time he got to perform it was next to Kageyama, he was determined to enjoy himself.

And enjoy himself he did. Hinata practically lost himself in the routine, and by the end of the short piece, he was practically beaming. Skipping back to the outskirts of the class, he didn’t notice the way Saeko’s eyes remained trained on him.

They repeated this process for all the solos, and then the two duets, and by the end of it, Hinata understood why Kenma had been so unenthusiastic about the class’s agenda. Hinata was usually full of energy, but even he was gasping for breath now. Kenma hadn't moved from his position lying face down on the floor, the way he had been since he finished his last turn, and Akaashi was looking intently at his sports bag where Hinata was confident he was storing some food.

“Alright, thank you, everyone, for pulling through to the end,” Saeko said once everyone had a couple of moments to catch their breaths. They all responded with various groaning, and she laughed in response. “Well, I’m ready to list everyone getting a solo. Again, if you don’t get one now, remember you always have a chance next season.”

Next season _was_ an option. Hinata wasn’t sure how much time he could continue dedicating to ballet, but if Suga had let him stick with it this far, then maybe he’d let him participate in another event. But he’d been pretty hard to convince about letting Hinata do the ballet ensemble this season. 

So caught up in his thoughts, Hinata almost completely missed when Saeko said, “The first solo goes to Hinata Shouyou.”

Hinata’s head snapped up in response, and he felt dazed at the polite round of clapping that greeted him. Akaashi was looking at him with a proud beam, and even Kenma seemed to be smiling softly. Hinata turned back to look at Saeko with a questioning gaze, but she was already scanning the room for her next announcement.

“The second solo goes to Shirabu Kenjirou.”

And so she continued until all the parts had been assigned. Hinata wasn’t surprised that Akaashi and Kenma had each gotten solo’s, though he did catch their breaths of relief at not being assigned a duet. He could also begrudgingly admit that Kageyama probably deserved the duet he got as well. But he still wasn’t sure why he’d gotten a solo at all!

And he made it a point to stay after the practice to say just as much to Saeko.

“Are you worried about the more technical parts of the piece?” she asked as she gently slipped her slippers off her feet. “Because if so, then don’t. I was planning on finding you someone to help out with that anyway.”

“But why wouldn’t you choose someone who was already good at it?” Hinata stressed, guilt tugging at him. It was one thing to be selected for the ensemble. It was a whole other to be chosen for a solo. All he could think about were his classmates who had been doing this for much longer, but who hadn’t gotten picked. 

Saeko gave Hinata a long, hard look before she began speaking.

“The way people dance tells a specific story,” she said slowly, a small smile making its way across her face. “The story I wanted to tell with that first solo was of youth, of freedom, and of flying. And Hinata, you soared.”

Hinata's eyes widened.

“I’m willing to take a risk on the more technical aspects if you can give me that feeling every time,” Saeko continued as she rose from her spot on the floor. “But you do have to do your part with meeting with someone outside of practice to get your basics where they need to be.”

And for whatever reason, the first person who came to his mind was Kageyama.

He immediately recoiled. No, absolutely not Kageyama! He’d probably just call him an idiot the whole time. He’d just ask Kenma. 

“I won’t let you down,” Hinata said with determination. He smiled even wider when Saeko brought her hand down to ruffle his hair. 

“Keep leaping like that, and I’ll believe you.”

-

“And then Akaashi said that he hadn’t even known contemporary style was danced barefoot - he thought it was just me!”

Kuroo let out a chuckle next to Bokuto as he laid out spread-eagle on the floor. He had been in the middle of stretching, but had given up soon after Bokuto had come into the room. He was never able to keep count of anything while the other man was present, and it wasn’t like he even really needed to stretch anymore.

Kuroo frowned at the thought.

“Hey, what’s that look all about?” Bokuto said as he leaned over Kuroo to get a better look at his face. “What’s going on in that dumb ballet head of yours?”

“Oh, fuck off,” Kuroo said as he pushed Bokuto away with a laugh. He sat up and sighed, mouth pulling to the side as he thought about the predicament he was in. “Kiyoko got injured.”

“What?” Bokuto replied with wide eyes. “Is she okay? What happened?”

“It’s nothing big,” Kuroo said placatingly. “It’s really early onset tendonitis. It won’t be an issue if she rests up, but it’ll be a month before she’s cleared to dance again.”

“Well, I mean I’m glad she’s alright,” Bokuto said slowly as he gave Kuroo a look of concern. “But what about…”

And as he trailed off, Kuroo knew they were on the same page. 

Kiyoko was supposed to be Kuroo’s duet partner for the upcoming recital. They’d never done a duet together before, but the few times they’d been able to practice had gone really well. Kiyoko had choreographed the entire routine, and Kuroo had been over the moon when she had approached him asking if he would be interested in performing with her. She had already been scouted out by a ballet company, so this would be her last recital with the studio, and Kuroo was touched that she thought he was skilled enough to join her. Plus, her choreography was incredible and exactly what he needed to get noticed by the ballet company of his choice.

But now he wasn’t sure if it was going to be a reality for him.

“She’s still planning on dancing at the recital,” Kuroo said with a sigh. Bokuto perked up at the words, but Kuroo continued with an even deeper frown. “But the thing is she already has the choreography down. I’m the one who needs to learn it and the only person who can teach me is on bed rest. By the time she’s better, I’ll only have a few weeks to learn everything, and at that point, it’ll probably be better for her to just do the routine with the person who helped her choreograph the other half in the first place.”

“Did she say that?” Bokuto asked, disbelief clear in his tone. Kuroo averted his eyes and brought a hand up to scratch the back of his neck.

“Well, _no_ -” and anything else Kuroo had planned to say was drowned out by a long-suffering groan from Bokuto. Kuroo bristled and continued, “I mean it’s not hard to guess that’s what’ll happen! If I don’t have a way to learn the routine, I can’t dance with her!”

“Bro, you always jump to the worst-case scenario,” Bokuto said in frustration. “Like I love you Kuroo but have you ever thought that there might be a way for you to learn it with someone else in the meantime.”

“I would still need Kiyoko to teach it,” Kuroo said automatically. Bokuto opened his mouth to protest, but Kuroo continued because he knew what he’d say. “And even if we found a way for her to teach me without causing her self injury, everyone is already in a partnership.”

Kuroo had looked into this soon after Kiyoko had told him the news. Even if he wasn’t going to be able to dance with Kiyoko for this recital, he still wanted to dance a duet with _someone._ Duets were both his favorite thing to dance, and what he was the most comfortable with. If he was going to be noticed by the _Nekoma Dance Company_ , it was going to be while dancing a duet.

“Everyone?” Bokuto asked before he placed a hand thoughtfully on his chin. “Well, actually, I guess that makes sense. We’ve got like two months - most people have started working on their pieces by now.”

“Yeah, thanks for that reminder, Bo,” Kuroo groaned as he collapsed back on the floor. He started up at the blinding light on the ceiling and actively resisted the urge to pout. “Maybe I can steal Yaku from Lev?”

“Wouldn’t Yaku rather eat his own foot after last time?” Bokuto said with a laugh, and Kuroo couldn’t help but join him. While he hadn’t even dropped Yaku during their first and only recital together, he had almost stepped on the guy’s toes during a particularly difficult step sequence and had gotten swiftly kneed in the gut once they were off stage for it. 

“For as bad as that was, I’m way better now,” Kuroo replied, thinking about how much he had grown as a dancer recently. He had been doing ballet since he was a kid, but he’d moved studios too often to really make much progress. Now having been with Karasuno dance studio for the past three years, he’d made incredible strides. So much so that he honestly thought he’d be able to be selected by _Nekoma Ballet Company_ during this coming recital.

But that was looking less and less likely now.

“Plus,” Kuroo continued, trying not to let his train of thought weigh him down. “I’m like 100 times better than Lev. I think Yaku is on the verge of murder at this point.”

“I mean I would offer if I knew a single thing about ballet,” Bokuto said with a shrug. “And also if I was even a little bit interested in the most boring dance style in the world.”

Kuroo turned to swipe a hit at Bokuto, but the other man just dodged with a laugh. That was how their arguments over ballet often went. Bokuto never jibed at its difficulty or intensity, but he never seemed to budge on the fact that it didn’t seem very fun. And he never failed to bring this up at least once when talking to Kuroo about ballet. But luckily this time, Kuroo had something incredible in his arsenal. 

“If it’s so boring, why are you always trying to sneak a peek into Akaashi’s classes?” Kuroo teased. Immediately, Bokuto’s entire face lit up in a heated blush and Kuroo felt a smirk stretch across his face. “Better yet, why don’t I just share all the lovely opinions you have about how dull ballet is?”

Kuroo made to stand up - as if he knew where or what Akaashi was up to at that given moment - but he was immediately yanked into a hold by Bokuto.

“What - hey, get off of me,” Kuroo laughed as Bokuto locked his arms tight around his chest. He could hardly breathe, but it less to do with the hold and more to do with how hard he was laughing.

“Not if you’re going to bother Akaashi,” Bokuto yelled as he tried dragging Kuroo further away from the door. He tried standing up while maintaining his hold on Kuroo, but Kuroo wasn’t just going to let himself get dragged so he heaved to the side. This resulted in them both landing in a tangled pile on the floor, both letting out simultaneous groans.

“Can’t say I recognize _that_ style of dance.”

Kuroo looked up from the floor to see none other than Oikawa Tooru looking down at them with an unimpressed look in his eyes. He let out another groan.

“Um, excuse me, did you just groan at the sight of me?” Oikawa asked in bewilderment. Kuroo didn’t bother responding, knowing Oikawa would just continue anyway. “What have I ever done to deserve that?”

“Literally exist,” Kuroo said as he sat up and shoved Bokuto off of him with a grunt. The man landed with a grunt of his own at his side, and Kuroo pointedly ignored the glare his best friend was sending him. “What do you need?”

“This room, and you two out of it,” Oikawa said as he placed his bag on the ground. “I have a session here in a bit, and need the space to work.”

“Aw, let us stay just a little longer until your student comes,” Bokuto whined. If Kuroo hadn’t known that his reluctance came from a place of not wanting to move than anything else, he’d be impressed at him for standing up to Oikawa. “Kuroo still needs some time to mope.”

Kuroo swung at him and didn’t miss that time. Unfortunately, this did nothing but cause Oikawa’s eyes to light up in interest. 

“Ooh, what’s got little Kuro-chan all wound up?” Oikawa cooed as he made his way closer to them. Kuroo rolled his eyes, but Bokuto happily took the opportunity to overshare about Kuroo.

“Kiyoko is out of commission, and that means Kuroo might not be able to dance a duet this recital,” Bokuto said, summing up what had been a half-hour lament from Kuroo into a single sentence. Kuroo frowned at the implications of that. “So if he doesn’t find someone to either practice with, or just partner with in general, he’s pretty much out of luck.”

“You’re the partner Kiyoko decided on for the choreography,” Oikawa said with disdain. 

“Yeah, so what?” Kuroo said with a scoff. “What gives you the right to be so judgemental?”

“Because I’m the person who helped her choreograph it,” Oikawa replied with a sharp grin. Kuroo closed his eyes and resisted the urge to groan. Of course, it made so much sense. When Kiyoko had told him she wouldn’t be able to dance with the person who helped her create the routine, he hadn’t asked any questions, too grateful for the opportunity to bother.

It was no wonder that the brilliant choreograph was the product of both Kiyoko and Oikawa. Frustrating to no end, but unsurprising nonetheless. 

“Why weren’t you around when we first started meeting over it?” Kuroo asked in irritation. Oikawa didn’t dance, but it would’ve made learning the first parts of the dance much easier for Kuroo if he had helped out.

“I didn’t want to see who was going to be squandering all the potential in my routine,” Oikawa said as he turned up his nose, and Kuroo would’ve hit him if he wasn’t so intimidated by his boyfriend. Or rather, if his boyfriend didn’t smack him in the head enough for the both of them. Oikawa sighed after a moment though, and he seemed to deflate. “Plus, I really didn’t have the time. I have this pupil who, for all his ability to get under my skin, is-”

Oikawa froze. His eyes went wider than Kuroo had ever seen them and then he turned to look at Kuroo with a strange intensity to his eyes. 

“Wait so let me get this straight,” he said, the smile on his face making Kuroo wary. “You need a partner to practice with until Kiyoko gets better, and someone who knows the choreography to teach it to you.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo said slowly before sharing a confused look with Bokuto. The other man shrugged in response, but he too looked a little concerned about Oikawa’s newfound enthusiasm.

“Kuro-chan, I’m about to be your most favorite person,” Oikawa said with a truly terrifying grin, and Kuroo wasn’t sure he wanted to even begin knowing what was going through his mind.

Something told him he would have little choice in the matter anyway.

-

Suga whirled back as the swinging door to a classroom almost hit him in the nose. He wanted to glare at the dancers filing out of the room, but he knew he could really only blame himself.

His head had been in the clouds all day. Between his worry over Kiyoko, his concerns over all the additions Nishinoya wanted to add to his routine, and his recent closeness with Daichi from all the help he’s been giving him with the logistics of the recital, Suga has been having a hard time keeping focused. And it wasn’t the fault of any other dancer for that.

But he could see two dancers he could pin some fault on.

“Kageyama, Kenma,” he greeted as he saw them lingering beside the door that had nearly cost him his nose. _Of course it would’ve been a ballet class._ Both of them looked up to him in surprise, though Kenma’s was a more nervous kind of surprise while Kageyama’s was more fearful. Good. “What are you two doing waiting out here?”

“...I was waiting for Shouyou,” Kenma mumbled as he kept his eyes trained on the ground. Suga knew Kenma was already a generally shy person - what with all the griping from Oikawa he was subject to - but he also knew part of the reason he was so timid was because of Hinata’s newfound interest in ballet.

And while he knew it wasn’t the young man’s fault that Hinata had been captivated by his dancing, he couldn’t deny he felt a level of pettiness towards him for splitting the attention of his star jazz student.

But he also knew this was bound to happen. Hinata had expressed interest in every dance style under the sun, and Suga knew it was only a matter of time until he wanted to try even another one. It wasn’t Kenma’s fault that ballet happened to be what he tried first.

It was, however, directly Kageyama’s fault.

“And what about you, Kageyama?” Suga asked with a sweet smile. Kageyama seemed to tense all over at the question, and he gave Suga a quizzical look. “What are you waiting here for?”

Kageyama blushed to the tip of his ears, and Kenma seemed to take that as his cue to leave. He bowed quickly to both of them before skittering away in a hurry and Suga couldn’t help but follow him with his eyes. He felt a little bad, but he also knew Kenma had taken much worse from Oikawa.

Admittedly, Kageyama had to. With Kenma now gone, that left no one to act as a buffer for Kageyama, and Suga loved seeing the young man’s reaction to anything related to jazz or Hinata Shouyou.

“So, can I expect to see you in one of my jazz classes anytime soon?” Suga asked as he turned to look back at Kageyama. His face blanched, and Suga laughed at the sight. “I’m just messing with you, Kageyama, don’t worry about it.”

And while Suga was never one to dissuade a student from dancing, Kageyama’s month long endeavor in jazz had been both one of the most frustrating and hilarious things he’d ever seen. Being a dance that required highly emotive expression, movements, and steps, Kageyama had struggled to get his face anywhere past a grimace. And the first time he’d ever tried doing jazz hands, Suga had gone into a coughing fit trying to cover up his laughter.

He’d be less prone to teasing him about it if it wasn’t for the fact that Hinata had informed him that Kageyama had only agreed to the ridiculous bet of theirs because of this ballet superiority complex. Said complex may have been ruthlessly beaten out of him by Suga’s intense classes, but he still liked to poke fun at the boy about it from time to time.

Especially since he suspects that another large part of why his complex went away is because of a crush the young man may be harboring for Suga’s star pupil.

The door swung open yet again, pulling Suga from his thoughts and causing him to lean away reflexively. Speak of the devil.

“Suga,” Hinata said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about me,” Suga teased. Hinata immediately went red, and Suga laughed. He and Kageyama truly were a matching pair. He ruffled the top of his head affectionately and continued, “All that spinning must really be getting to your head, huh.”

“Is that any way to speak to one of my soloists?” Saeko asked, following Hinata out of the room. Suga’s eyes went wide, and he looked down at Hinata with pride. 

“You got a solo?” He exclaimed, bringing Hinata in to crush him in a hug. He heard Hinata grunt at the strength but he could not give a single care. He’d known how down Hinata had been on himself for how behind he was compared to his ensemble, and was so happy he was getting the recognition he deserved. 

Pulling back, Suga did level Hinata with a stern look. “You still have your big jazz piece you need to work on, too. You better not slack off on that in exchange for this.”

“It’s just a 20-second solo,” Saeko replied from behind Hinata with a shrug. “Enough that he needs to brush on his basics, but not so much it should distract from anything else.”

“You don’t know how bad this boy can get with multitasking,” Suga said, tone dry. He remembered with glaring clarity the recital where Hinata had somehow managed to get a solo, duet, and group piece from under Suga’s nose. By the time Suga had realized what had happened, his student had already invested too much time for him to pull him out of any of the routines.

Fortunately, the exhaustion Hinata had felt when he’d finished everything had taught him a valuable lesson about overdoing it. Unfortunately, any exhaustion Hinata felt, Suga felt twice fold. He grimaced at the memory. He did not want to experience that again.

Looking down at Hinata, he grabbed him by his head and forced him to make eye contact with him, ignoring the surprised yelp his student made in response. 

“You are not allowed to overexert yourself this time,” Suga stressed, staring directly into Hinata’s eyes. He had to make his point as clear as possible. “Not unless you want to send me to an early grave. Is that what you want? To be responsible for my death, Hinata?”

And, yes, he may be going a bit overboard, but the look in Hinata’s eyes made it clear to him that he was at the very least getting his point across. At least until Hinata’s gaze focused on something just past Suga’s shoulder. 

“Daichi,” Hinata whined, and Suga froze. He whirled around to see Daichi standing behind him with eyebrows high on his head as he terrorized Hinata. Suga felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. 

This was probably karma for all the teasing he’d put Kenma, Kageyama, and Hinata through.

But Suga should be allowed some leeway! He was incredibly stressed right now, and if some harmless teasing was what he needed as an outlet for his nerves, then he should be allowed to use it, goddamn it! This was especially true right now, because Daichi was one of the biggest reasons he was so stressed out. 

Because Suga had offered to help Daichi plan the big recital - a poorly made decision that had been fully influenced by his desire to impress the other man and his own lack of impulse control - the two have been spending a lot of time together. Like _a lot_ of time. Like Suga was fully prepared to drop down on one knee for the man at this point.

And before it had just been a crush. Daichi had been the wonderful eye candy who helped run the studio all without having a single dancing bone in his body. And Suga had thought that spending more time with him would simply give him the opportunity to flirt and get to know him better. And it definitely had - except he had kept flirting and kept knowing more about him until every other thought in his head was revolving around something Daichi related. 

He’d endured constant teasing from both Kiyoko and Oikawa for it.

But now Daichi himself was standing there looking at Suga with confusion written all over his face - his beautiful, perfect face. Suga could’ve sighed just looking at him if the context was more appropriate. 

“Daichi,” Hinata repeated, drawing Suga’s attention back down to where his hands were still pressed against his cheeks. “Suga’s being mean to me.”

Suga’s eye widened further, and he resisted the urge to squeeze Hinata’s head tighter. It wasn’t like the young man was aware of how over the moon Suga was for the other man. 

That didn’t forgive him for embarrassing him in front of Daichi.

He opened his mouth, prepared to both scold Hinata and defend his image in one fell swoop. However, Daichi beat him to it.

“I’m not going to pretend like I know what’s happening here,” Daichi started with a smile. “But I’ve come to learn that Suga is pretty much always right.”

Suga had never wanted to kiss a man more in his life.

“You hear that Hinata,” Suga said, though he did finally release the poor thing. Hinata looked completely ruffled as he looked up at him, and Suga couldn’t help the way his smile went fond. “You should listen to me more. And that means spending more time on stamina training and less time on jumps.”

“Okay, okay,” Hinata griped, but Suga could see the smile he was failing to hide. He turned to look at Daichi with a beam and said, “Did you hear I got a solo?”

“How could he have heard? It was literally just announced,” Kageyama said, speaking for the first time since Hinata had stepped out of the room. Suga blinked in surprise. He’d almost forgotten he was even there. 

“It’s just an expression, stupid,” Hinata said as he stuck out his tongue. Kageyama threw what looked to be a used towel at Hinata, and the other boy moved to leap at the other ballet dancer. 

“And I just said he needed to spend less time on jumps,” Suga said under his breath as he watched Kageyama and Hinata play cat and mouse. He heard a chuckle from his right, and he turned to see that Daichi had come up beside him.

“Is having that much energy a dancer thing, or are those two just special?” he asked as he smiled at the duo's antics. Suga let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head.

“I think those two are the most special people we’ve got here,” Suga said sardonically. And while his tone of voice wouldn’t show it, he did really mean what he was saying. Kageyama was going places - there hadn’t been doubt about that for years. But Hinata had a light that was all his own, and Suga looked forward to seeing how far that light would take him.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Daichi murmured and when Suga turned to see the man looking at him with the softest look in his eyes. “I think there are a couple of others who beat them out.”

And honestly, if he really didn’t want Suga to propose, Daichi was going to have to stop looking at him like that. 

-

Kenma let out a breath of relief as he turned the corner. 

He was never sure how to act around other people in the studio, especially not people who he’d never danced with before, and _especially_ not Sugawara Koushi. He had nothing against the man, but the fact that Suga may possibly blame Kenma for Hinata continuing his ballet classes combined with the fact that he was one of the few people Kenma knew who actually _liked_ having Oikawa around made Kenma just a bit wary around him.

But it was fine now. He was done with ensemble class, had gotten the only solo he’d be okay with performing, and now just had to do his final practice with Oikawa for the day and he’d be free to go home and sleep for several hours. Saeko was a great instructor, but today’s class had been so gruelling Kenma probably wouldn't even be able to walk tomorrow. 

Finally making his way to the back of the studio where the individual rooms were located, he was surprised to see Bokuto exiting the classroom Oikawa had texted him to meet in. He hadn’t talked to the man before, but he did make it a point to know the identity of the person that caused the infallible Akaashi Keiji to smile and show an interest in something other than ballet for the first time in his life. 

“Oh, hey, you’re Kenma, right?” Bokuto said as he caught his eye. Kenma eyebrows shot up. He hadn’t been aware that Bokuto knew about him as well. At his expression, Bokuto raised his hands up and quickly explained, “Uh, it’s just that, um...Akaashi’s mentions you a lot!”

Kenma pursed his lips. He doubted anything Akaashi told the man was flattering.

“I’m Bokuto, by the way. Bokuto Koutarou,” Bokuto said with a large smile. Kenma was almost blinded by the sight of it.

“Kozume Kenma. But you can just call me Kenma,” Kenma replied, shifting uneasily on his feet. He wasn’t sure how long small talk was supposed to go on for, but he didn’t want to give Bokuto a reason to believe he was rude and confirm anything Akaashi said about him.

“What are you doing on this side of the studio?” Bokuto asked, and Kenma titled his head in confusion. It should be obvious he was here for the individual rooms. “Oh, it’s just that I don’t usually see you down here.”

“Oh, Tooru was kicked out of our usual room,” Kenma said, glancing at the room to his left where Oikawa was waiting. He felt something invade his personal space, and he turned back to see Bokuto leaning in close to him. Kenma took several steps back but Boktuo continued looking at him just as eagerly.

“Wait, _you’re_ Oikawa’s special student?” Bokuto asked in disbelief. Kenma nodded hesitantly, and Bokuto immediately started laughing. “Oh my god, this is too good. Like this is the best thing ever. I wish I could stay, and see his face, and - sorry, I must be making no sense, huh.”

And Kenma was grateful Bokuto had read the bewilderment on his face because he honestly had no idea how to even begin responding to Bokuto’s strange reaction. The man in question just shook his head and clapped his hand on Kenma's shoulder, nearly causing his knees to buckle at the force. 

“Sorry, but good luck with your class with Oikawa today,” Bokuto said as he moved to walk past Kenma. Kenma did not trust the gleam in his eyes at all, and he worried what Oikawa had up his sleeve. “It was really nice to meet you Kenma - I hope we see more of each other soon!”

_What on Earth did that mean?_

Trying not to think too much about the strange encounter, Kenma finally made his way into the personal room. He wasn’t surprised to see Oikawa standing in the center of it like he owned the place.

He was surprised to see a man in the corner of the room staring at Kenma like a deer in the headlights. The same man Kenma had nearly toppled over before going to his ensemble class.

“Kenma, apple of my eye,” Oikawa said in a tone so sweet that it made Kenma want to gag. “Meet Kuroo - he’s going to be your new duet partner.”

Kenma wondered if murdering Oikawa would make a poor first impression or not.

_-_

_Do the dance, do the dance_

_The way you move is a mystery_

_Do the dance_

_You're always there for music and me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so,,,IDEALLY,,,i'll be updating once a week
> 
> don't hold me to that though AHAHAHAHA 
> 
> i have the whole story mapped out, but my chapters tend to get away from me in the length, so that my delay the updates somewhat!! but i am really excited to share with you all everything i have planned, and would love to hear your thoughts so far!!!!
> 
> and pls come by my [twitter](https://tiwitter.com/neenswrites) i would love to talk to you there too!!


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